Hello.
I'm sorry it's been so long but I have had things happening that I had to sort out or get stuck into and this blog took the backseat for a few months but I am back now baby, and this time it is for good. I will be returning to my 100 AFI films asap, I think the next one is to be Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, which was a bit of a slow burner but eventually packed a big emotional punch...oh I'll get onto that next time.
As I said I have been away for a bit, a lot of stuff has hapened for and around me but now I shall be returning to my film review blog, and I will be trying my hardest to actually write a blog a week at least. In the meantime here's a review of current film of the moment [REC] 2....
I used to be the type of person who just didn’t do horror films. I was squeamish and petrified with fear at the thought of watching them. I glimpsed a bit of the original Nightmare on Elm Street when I was young and couldn’t sleep without a crucifix near the bed for quite some time. Then I did something both brave and foolish, I watched the 1974 Texas Chainsaw Massacre, by myself at night, in my mid teens. It freaked me out so much I had to watch Austin Powers afterwards as some comic relief, but, since then, my horror film capability has changed. Now, I have watched many a horror film and thought “That was a bit cheesy”, “That is what they’re afraid of?” and (in a sarcastic tone) “Wow. Didn’t see that coming!” Obviously there are a few exceptions to this rule, but I find that most of these exceptions tend to be filmic contributions from countries where English is not the first (or only) language. This leads me nicely to the film that I am reviewing, [REC] 2.
The sequel to the marvellously freaky, [REC] follows on directly after the events that have unfolded, but this time it’s men with guns and masks (cameras on their helmets and a recording camera!) that enter the building, not fully knowing what they are getting themselves into. Sure enough the whole grisly saga starts to unfold and we are barraged with first person shots of blood spatterings, people jumping out the darkness and night vision terrors.
At just eighty five minutes long, this film does what the predecessor did and hits you hard and fast (That’s what she said) with blood, violence and scares. It doesn’t dilly-dally and heads right into the action, where the film has you in a state of constant anticipation “what’s behind that door? Don’t open it!”, “Oh my god run!” etc. There is a bit more explanation in this film as to what has happened and why and also something of a twist to the tale, plus the reappearance of some faces from the first film. However, on the down side, if you have seen the first film, then the fact that you know what to expect may take away some of the tension, and it does suffer, just a tid-bit though, from inferior-sequel-itis.
I would still recommend this film as a decent modern horror film to watch. Even if you don’t scare that easy there a few good deaths in the mix, and it is different to the offerings our American cousins keep churning out (and in the case of [REC] making inferior English language copies of). Don’t let the fact that it is a Spanish film put you off, a slight up side to the fact you have to read subtitles keeps your eyes on the screen and therefore you cannot look away at the scary, gory parts.
Overall, if you haven’t seen the first film you could probably watch the second film and still be able to follow it, but I would recommend watching the first film before seeing this. This film is jumpy, with some genuine freaky scenes. It’s short, to the point and well acted by unknowns, at least in the UK, which makes it all the more scary as you don‘t know who will make it out alive, if anyone. Go see it, but take some friends too, just so you don’t get scared in the big dark screens.
